'Top Chef Masters' Is No 'Top Chef' But Yay! Foooood

Get ready for some watermelon gnocchi and sweetbreads glazed with citrus foam, Top Chef Masters Season 5 premieres tonight (Wednesday, July 24) at 10 p.m. on Bravo. I know, I know, Top Chef Masters is definitely not the same as Top Chef non-masters, but guys, come on! It's still fun to watch. Plus, the more Gail Simmons in your life, the better. Plus plus, Simmons revealed what we can expect from this season, and hey, it sounds kind of interesting. There's skydiving! And Mindy Kaling! And Curtis Stone still has that hilarious accent!

This season, Bravo has the 13 award-winning chef contestants doing stunts before they cook since, you know, preparing food without jumping out of a plane first is for amateurs.

Simmons says that this season will be "very relaxed", (but what about the skydiving, Gail?!) which is great for all .01 percent of reality TV consumers who just can't stand drama. But that's the thing with Top Chef Masters — the contestants are all settled professionals with decades of experience. Sure, some are ego-maniacs with extreme tempers, but they have too much to lose if they're caught acting up on TV. Unlike those newbies on Top Chef, their established careers are at stake.

And that's why the show aims to create the drama, rather than harness it. The chefs will be subjected to all sorts of random physical challenges (hence the flying in the first episode) and will be cooking for celebs like Mindy Kaling, Busy Philipps, the cast of Days of Our Lives, and Kathie Lee Gifford.

But if you're in it for the food, you might be excited to learn that David Burke of, uh, David Burke fame, will be a contestant, and that Bryan Voltaggio from Top Chef Season 6 will be on the show, as well.

Let's put it this way: Top Chef Masters will be a great way to satisfy your foodiness until Top Chef: New Orleans comes back — it's expected to premiere this winter.